BANGLADESH: EX-MP AMONG SIX SENTENCED TO DEATH IN ASHULIA CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY CASE

February 15, 2026:

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-2 on February 5, 2025 sentenced six people, including former Dhaka-19 lawmaker Md Saiful Islam, to death and handed life imprisonment to seven others in a crimes against humanity case over the killing of seven youths and the burning of six of their bodies in Ashulia on August 5, 2024.
The court also sentenced two others to seven years' imprisonment each and ‘pardoned’ another in the case.
Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, chairman of the three-judge panel of the ICT-2, pronounced the judgment this noon. 
The now death-row convicts are Md Saiful Islam, former officer-in-charge of Ashulia Police Station AFM Sayed Roni, former assistant sub-inspector Bishwajit Saha, Jubo League activist Roni Bhuiyan, former sub-inspector Abdul Malek and former constable Mukul Chokder. 
The tribunal sentenced former Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Syed Nurul Islam, former Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Asaduzzaman Ripon, former Additional Superintendent of Police (Crimes and Operations) Md Abdullahil Kafi, former Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) (Savar Circle) Md Shahidul Islam, former inspectors Mohammad Masudur Rahman and Nirmol Kumar Das, and former Detective Branch (DB) Inspector Md Arafat Hossain to life imprisonment. 
Former sub-inspector Arafat Uddin and former assistant sub-inspector Kamrul Hasan were sentenced to seven years in jail. 
The court also ordered the confiscation of the properties of former lawmaker Saiful in favour of the state and distributes those among the families of the victims. It also fined Md Asaduzzaman Ripon, Md Abdullahil Kafi and Md Shahidul Islam Taka one lakh each, while AFM Sayed Roni, Mohammad Masudur Rahman, Nirmol Kumar Das and Md Arafat Hossain were fined Taka 50,000 each in the case. The tribunal fined Abdul Malek, Bishwajit Saha, Mukul Chokder, Arafat Uddin and Kamrul Hasan Taka 5,000 each.
The court also acquitted former sub-inspector Sheikh Abzalul Haque, who had pleaded guilty and became an approver. 
Earlier, the tribunal began reading out the judgment at around 12:50 PM. Tribunal chairman Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury started reading out the sentencing portion at 1.12 PM. 
On January 20, the tribunal kept the judgment on CAV (curia advisari vult, a Latin legal term meaning the court awaits verdict) after legal arguments concluded that day. 
On August 21, 2025, the tribunal framed charges against 16 accused in the case. Of them, eight are in custody. Seven pleaded not guilty and sought justice. Sheikh Abzalul Haque, however, pleaded guilty and later became an approver. 
The seven who pleaded not guilty are Md Abdullahil Kafi, Md Shahidul Islam, Md Arafat Hossain, Abdul Malek, Arafat Uddin, Kamrul Hasan, and Mukul Chokder. 
The eight fugitive convicts in the case are Md Saiful Islam, Syed Nurul Islam, Md Asaduzzaman Ripon, AFM Sayed Roni, Mohammad Masudur Rahman, Nirmol Kumar Das, Bishwajit Saha, and Roni Bhuiyan. 
“A total of 29 people were killed during the uprising in Savar. One person was killed on August 4 and six the following day. By killing the innocents, the accused committed one offence; by burning their bodies on August 5, they committed another,” the prosecution said earlier.
On July 16, the tribunal ordered publication of notices in two national dailies summoning the eight fugitive accused to surrender, warning that the trial would proceed in absentia if they failed to comply. 
The ICT investigation agency launched its probe on October 6, 2024, and submitted its report on June 19, 2025. 
Earlier, on July 2, ICT-2 took cognisance of the formal charges, accusing the defendants of shooting six youths on August 5, 2024—killing five instantly—and burning their bodies along with another injured youth, allegedly to destroy evidence. Another youth was shot dead on August 4, 2024. 
The seven victims in the case are Sazzad Hossain Sazal, As Sabur, Tanjil Mahmud Sujoy, Bayejid Bostami, Abul Hossain, Omar Faruk, and Mohammad Shahabul Islam. 
According to the prosecution, police placed the victims’ bodies in a van and set it ablaze to make it appear that protesters had torched it. One victim was reportedly alive when the fire was set.